The American Athletic rivals will face at the Liacouras Center on Saturday as the South Florida Bulls are taking on the Temple Owls looking to get their third conference win after a big victory over Tulsa, while the hosts are hoping to make it three in a row after handing the Houston Cougars their first defeat of the season. Temple has been dominant in the H2H duels in the past few years, winning the last nine encounters including the previous four at home.

The Bulls bounced back from a loss to Tulsa with a blowout win over Tulane

South Florida was in an excellent run of seven wins before Tulsa Golden Hurricane defeated them on the road but the Bulls responded immediately with a convincing home victory over the Tulane Green Wave. The Bulls improved to the 12-3 record and are in the 4th position in the American Athletic Conference with three wins behind the leaders Houston Cougars, eight more than the bottom-placed Tulane, and with the same record as the Temple Owls.

Sophomore guard David Collins led the Bulls in a 66-48 win over the Green Wave with 17 points, five rebounds, game-high five assists, and game-high five steals; Alexis Yetna posted a double-double of 15 points and team-high 11 boards, while T.J. Lang chipped in with 11 points off the bench. South Florida didn’t have plenty of luck from downtown, shooting only 23.8 percent and they even lost the rebounding battle (30-36) but their defense was excellent and kept the visitors to 38.6 percent from the floor, allowing them to make just five triples on 21 attempts. The Bulls were quite aggressive in the defense as they forced 26 turnovers and committed 15 in return.

The Bulls have the 171st offense in the NCAAB that averages 74.4 points per contest, while their defense allows 64.4 points per game (35th). South Florida’srebounding is 31st as they are recording 40.3 boards per game, while they are 163rd when it comes to assists per contest with 13.9 dishes a night. South Florida is 211th in field goal percentage as they have 44.1 percent from the floor and 251st from downtown with 32.5 percentage, while they are the 293rd with 6.4 three-pointers made per game.

The Owls beat Houston in another close encounter

Temple was on a three-game winning run when they fell short to the UCF Knights but they responded well in the following two games against Wichita State Shockers and most recently, the Houston Cougars. The Owls now improved to the 5th place in the American Athletic Conference with the 12-3 record, with the same amount of victories as UCF Knights, Cincinnati, and South Florida, and three behind the Houston Cougars.

Junior guard Quinton Rose led the Owls in a 73-69 win over the Cougars with 22 points (6-18 FG, 1-7 3PT, 9-10 FT), six rebounds, and a couple of steals; Nate Pierre-Louis followed him with 18 points, four boards, and two thefts, while Shizz Alston Jr. contributed with 12 points, six rebounds, and game-high six dimes. Temple had a 7-point lead at halftime and although Houston tried to make a late comeback and even tied the game in the dying moments, the officials called a charge and the hosts snatched a tight victory.

The Owls have the 167th offense in the NCAAB that averages 74.5 points per contest, while their defense is allowing 69.3 points per game (122nd). Temple is the 270th rebounding team in college basketball as they are recording 34.5 boards per game, while they are 101st when it comes to assists per contest with 14.9 dishes a night. Temple is 209th in field goal percentage as they have 44.1percent from the floor and 302nd from downtown with 31.0 percentage, while they are the 234th with 7.1 three-pointers made per game.

Notable Trends

Temple:

3-0-1 ATS in their last four vs. American Athletic Conference rivals

4-1 ATS in their last five games played on Saturday

4-1-1 ATS in their last six games following a ATS win.

South Florida:

1-4 ATS in their last five games after allowing less than 50 points in their previous game

10-11-1 ATS in the last 22 conference games

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The Bottom Line What to bet on this game.

Full-Game Side Bet

Rating:

Temple won nine out of the previous ten H2H encounters including the last nine, while the Owls were victorious in each of the past four meetings at the Liacouras Center. The Owls have been playing very well in front of their won crowd this year, which can’t be said for the Bulls on the road and considering that the tradition is entirely on Temple’s side, I am backing the hosts to get a win in this one. Although South Florida has a slightly better defense than the Owls, Temple didn’t concede more than 70 points in just two of eight home games and I am backing their D to prevail here.

Prediction: Temple Owls -9 (-110)

Full-Game Total Pick

Rating:

The defenses are better parts of these respective rivals and their H2H duels are usually low-scoring ones as it was the case in the last two meetings when south Florida failed to score more than 60 points. Thy combined for more than 150 points in only one out of the previous ten H2H encounters and I don’t believe that we’ll see a bunch of baskets here and that’s why I am going with the under.

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